25 Days of Oneshots
by Blue-Starlight92
Summary: These are all from a prompt I did back in December for Christmas themed oneshots, but were only ever posted on my tumblr. 25 different Christmas/winter prompts. I'll update daily!
1. Mistletoe

**Authors Note: So... who feels like Christmas in March? These are all old oneshots from the "25 Days of Fic" prompt that I did on tumblr. I skip around on the time line, and there's one that's an AU, but I'll copy and paste the prompt and summary from tumblr so that everyone knows what's going on! This one is self-beta'd, so if there are any issues, don't look at anyone but me!**

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Prompt: Mistletoe

Summary: Set after Silent Christmas, Mai and John are looking through the box of ornaments Mai brought to the office, when they find one last thing… (non-shippy)

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Mai smiled happily as she finished putting up the Christmas decorations, along with the other members of SPR, save for Lin and Naru (of course). At least Naru let them have the Christmas party, Mai thought he might, but she never knew for sure… Naru was Naru, after all. It was pretty late, well into early morning, and so far most of their Christmas party had been decorating the tree, but now they were really just sitting around and talking. Naru and Lin weren't really in on it, but they were still there, and they had their office doors open, so it almost counted.

They were about to call it a night, though. Monk and Ayako were wide awake, of course, but Masako was looking a little tired, John looked like he was about to fall asleep on Ayako (he kept leaning toward her slightly, and then sitting straight up and apologizing) and even Mai wasn't able to hold back a yawn or two, but she was determined to stay awake, and kept rummaging through the box of decorations she'd brought, sifting through the now empty boxes to see if there was anything she forgot. She knew Naru would most likely make her take it down within a day or two, so she was determined that nothing would be left out!

John got up to come help her, after Mai watched him start to drift off yet again, kneeling down on the floor with her, next to the box.

"I'm making sure I didn't forget anything," Mai said as he sifted through the boxes.

"I thought so," he smiled, a tired smile, but a smile as always.

They listened to the other's talk as they checked the empty ornament boxes. Yes, all of these were Mai's, but she hadn't actually bought them herself, they'd been her mother's, and she'd figured that the other's might like them, so she'd brought her tree (an old artificial tree, real ones had made her mom sneeze so much that they couldn't have them, and now that it was just Mai, there wasn't much point in getting a real one just for herself) and the ornaments up to the office.

For the most part, the boxes were empty, but John did find one… a little, broken, rocking horse. He hung it up on the tree with a sheepish smile.

"My mother always got frustrated with me, because I kept hanging up broken ornaments. I hope it's okay."

Mai laughed, "of course, it's fine!"

They didn't think they'd find anything else, when they reached the bottom of the box:

"What is…" a confused look crossed John's face as he pulled out the last thing, before dropping it immediately before Monk or Ayako could see. Mai didn't blame him… they'd never hear the end of it if either one of the older SPR members saw them with a sprig of mistletoe.

"I completely forgot that was in the box!"

"Ah, it's fine… but I don't think we should hang it up here."

"Yeah, Naru would kill me."

"I don't feel like going to jail for murder, so that's unlikely." And Mai had, once again, chosen the worst time to say something, as Naru had just stepped out of his office, right next to the two of them.

"Even if I hang up this?" Mai held the mistletoe up.

Monk and Ayako, who had just looked over, laughed, while Masako look like she might actually smack Mai.

"For that? I might," Naru sighed, and walked back into his office.


	2. Hot Chocolate

Prompt: Hot Chocolate

Summary: Hot chocolate makes everything better… even being snowed in in the mountains. (Set after the events of volume 12- spoilers)

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"Sheesh, it's still really coming down out there!" Mai sighed as she stepped away from the window.

"I knew we shouldn't have come out here in the middle of winter," Monk grumbled.

They weren't on a case or anything, those was put on hold for the time being with Naru and Lin in England (everyone was still a little stunned that they'd been working with Dr. Oliver Davis the whole time but it had been long enough by now that the initial shock had worn off) but they had decided that it would be fun to go on a vacation of sorts, and so had ended up in the mountains. Fortunately for them, they were in a cabin, and so when it started snowing, and then the snow had gotten heavier, and heavier, and heavier, until the weather was just too bad to go outside, they were all together, and warm.

"Hey, it could be worse," Yasu grinned.

"How?"

"The cabin could be haunted! Then again, that might make it more fun…"

"No, it wouldn't," Monk groaned, and flopped back on the bed he'd been sitting on.

"Should I make hot chocolate?" Ayako asked as she looked through their food supplies.

"Really?" Everyone perked up, and Mai realized that they all looked like pack of puppies.

"I'm taking that as a yes," Ayako laughed and got the supplies out. She was still the only one cooking… not for everyone's lack of trying to help but, well, they just made it worse.

They kept talking as Ayako made the hot chocolate, mainly about Christmas' past… even though it wasn't Christmas yet, and they fully intended to be back in Tokyo when Christmas came around. The other's were eager to hear about John's family traditions, since he was from Australia, and were surprised before remembering that of course it would be summer in Australia, since it was in the Southern hemisphere. John was just as interested in hearing about their own Christmas stories, since he'd only spent one Christmas in Japan so far, and they couldn't help but giggle at some of the questions he asked about, what they thought were, old, well known, traditions.

By the time Ayako had the hot chocolate ready, they were all in a good mood again.

"See, Monk, it's not so bad in the mountains, is it?"

"No, I guess it's not" Monk rolled his eyes.


	3. Snow

Prompt: Snow

Summary: John's never seen snow before… he's not sure if he should be worried or not when the rest of SPR realize this. (Set right after Silent Christmas)

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"Wait… you've never…" John looked over at Monk, who had just stopped in his tracks. Oh dear, had he said something wrong?

"I guess you wouldn't have," Masako said in her usual soft tone.

"Give him a break, Monk!" Ayako swatted him on the arm.

"Well, I did grow up in Australia…" John said, but he didn't think anyone heard him. Oh dear, what had he gotten himself into?

Mai had heard him, though, "yes, but it's just weird to think that this is your first snow!"

They'd been walking back to the office after finishing up a case at John's church, once Midnight Mass was over, and Mai had regained consciousness from being possessed, when it had started snowing a little harder, and John had (he still wasn't sure if this had been a mistake or not) commented that he hadn't seen snow in person before.

"You've really never seen snow before." Monk was taking a second to process the thought… the disbelief of one who has never gone without a tradition.

"Well I've seen it in movies, and I get the general idea," he didn't think that they wanted him to go into the composition and how snow was formed, so he left it at that.

"But you've never been in a snowball fight, never built a snow fort, or a snow man? That was the best part of winter as a kid!"

"Judging from the look on your face, Monk, I think that, for you, it's still the best part of winter _now_!" Mai giggled.

"Of course it is!"

"Well," Ayako said with a playful grin on her face… and John was a little nervous, she'd begun to pack the snow into a ball, and… oh dear. "I think there's enough snow on the ground… we can't let John escape without a snowball fight!"

She threw the ball at him, and it hit him square in the chest, exploding. He gave a little yelp as some of it crept down the collar of his sweater.

"It's cold!"

"Yeah, John, it's snow!"

Well he knew that in theory, but actually feeling it…

"Better hurry!" Monk grinned, starting in on making snowballs.

John's first snowball was more than a little pathetic, and Masako, hiding her giggles with her kimono sleeve, helped him.

At some point, Kasuya and Lin had left the group to go back to the office, and they followed… sort of. All five of them were having way too much fun with their impromptu snowball fight. John laughed, they were right, of course, this was a lot of fun!


	4. Candy Canes

Prompt: Candy Canes

Summary: Is it really that weird to bite down on them and chew them, or does everyone suck theirs into a lethal peppermint spear?

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John had no idea how he had ended up on the floor of his apartment, with Yasu, addressing Christmas cards and eating candy canes. He knew he wasn't making this up, because he wasn't prone to hallucinations, but the truth was that, out of all of the people in SPR that he would have though might possibly have ever been over at his apartment, much less addressing Christmas cards for him from the list he had written out, Yasu was close to last on that list.

It had started out when Yasu had casually mentioned needing to get some help with his English course before finals, and John had reasoned, correctly, that it was pointless for him to have to go find a tutor when he was friends with a native speaker, and had offered to help. Yasu's smile told him, quite plainly, that he'd been thinking along the same lines as John, and that he was better at casually dropping plea's for help (or auto-suggestions) into conversations than John had thought. Yasu had come over to his apartment, with his materials, and they'd started working. Not long after that, it had started snowing, building up until it was pretty close to a snow storm, and both John and Yasu had realized that Yasu wouldn't be leaving any time soon, and so John had offered to let him stay the night, which Yasu had gratefully accepted. So they'd kept on working, which had slowly morphed into John writing Christmas cards while occasionally answering questions. Not too long after, Yasu had decided that he was tired of looking at it, and had offered to help address them, saying that he could at least do that much when it came to writing.

The candy canes had come from John's pantry… he was trying to put off burning dinner for as long as possible.

They'd been sitting in silence for a while, when Yasu broke it:

"I've never seen anyone eat candy canes like you do."

"… what?" The comment was so out of the blue that John was a little bewildered as to how that had even come up.

"You actually bite down on them and eat them."

"Of course, it's a candy cane."

"I don't know anyone else who does that!"

John noticed that Yasu hadn't bitten into his, but had let it melt in his mouth, and had sucked on the end until it was no longer a candy cane, but a pointed weapon that looked like it might actually hurt.

"And I'm guessing you're not the only one who does that?" he indicated Yasu's dagger of a candy cane.

"Nope, for once I'm not the weird one."

"I don't think that chewing on candy canes qualifies as being weird."

"Yes it does, it definitely does," Yasu grinned.

John sighed… this could go on all night, he knew already.


	5. Christmas Tree

Prompt: Christmas Tree

Summary: Now how on earth are they going to get a Christmas tree up a flight of stairs without hurting themselves?

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"Mai, are you," pant, wheeze, "sure this a," another big inhale "good idea?"

"Of course I'm sure! And besides, we've already gotten it all the way here and halfway up the stairs!"

"How did you do this," another wheeze, "the last time?"

"That was an artificial tree…"

Mai sighed as she and John tried their best to maneuver up the stairs to the office, in use again now that Naru was back. She had actually gotten Naru's permission for a Christmas tree this year… although even she was at a loss as to how. But he had told her that he was not helping in any way, shape, or form. Which she hadn't expected anyway, so she didn't even try. She'd decided to get the tree early, and unfortunately for her, it was only after she'd bought the tree that she realized one very important thing… she had a real tree this year, and she was going to need help getting it up to the office. She had called Monk, but he was out of town until the next Monday, and she knew already that Yasu had finals, Ayako was busy, Masako wouldn't be able to do much since she was even smaller than Mai, and since Naru and Lin wouldn't help, that left one person… John. And, of course, he'd been available to help, and as usual, he'd come right away.

They'd gotten the tree to the office without too much bother… well, for the circumstances. John didn't have a car (Mai didn't think that he actually knew how to drive) and so they'd had to carry it to the office. The tree itself wasn't very big, about Mai's own height, but just the fact that they were carrying a Christmas tree down the sidewalk… well, John was carrying the bulk of the tree, Mai just had the top end and was trying to make sure he didn't inadvertently kill anyone with it. But, since the tree was about Mai's height, it was also almost _John's_ height, and so still pretty heavy, and they'd had to stop every few minutes to take a break. They'd attracted a lot of attention in the fairly short walk (well ten minutes without a load, at least double that when one was _carrying a freaking tree_) from the "Christmas Tree Tent" to the office.

And now they were in the process of getting it up the stairs. Mai felt bad for John… bad enough that she was thinking of buying him lunch or something, given that money was tight she usually didn't end up buying things for too many people, but this had turned out to be a very special circumstance. She hadn't had to do much, and at this point he was very tired, and wheezing, and just generally worn out from carrying the thing through Tokyo.

"Okay, just this last little bit!" John was trying to be optimistic, and Mai knew that no one else in SPR would be this cheerful when they were this tired.

They moved quickly up the stairs, John managed the office door, and put the tree down where Mai had had it last year.

"Next time we," John wheezed as he pulled pine needles out of his sweater, tossing them in a nearby trashcan "might need to wait for Monk to be in town."

"I'm sorry I didn't check first! Thanks for this John," Mai said as she patted his back.

"What is going on?" Apparently they'd been making too much noise for Naru. He took in the sight, pine needles littering the floor, the door still open, a very tired John, and Mai with her coat still on. "Did you carry the tree here?"

"Well you said you wouldn't help!"

"I said I wouldn't help you get it up here, I never said anything about Lin's van."


	6. Angel

**Authors Note: I couldn't remember the name for the woman who works at the church, so I just call her "Ms. Suji." I know the name is in the light novels somewhere, but for the life of me, since I started looking for it I can't find it. If anyone has read the light novels recently and would like to correct me, please feel free! (I'll actually be super happy if you do!) **

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Prompt: Angel

Summary: Masako tells herself that she really isn't good with watching children

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Masako decided that she was wholly out of her depth when it came to watching children. It wasn't hard, really, but she looked at Ms. Suji, who seemed to always know what to say, how to phrase it, what to do to keep the children smiling and happy. Even Ayako seemed to have similar knowledge, and had a group of children around her, clamoring to show her this, that, and some other thing that they had made. Masako had had the same group at first, but after the initial "she's a celebrity!" wore off, they'd gone off to do other things.

She still had one child next to her, a little girl. They hadn't actually said anything to each other, just "I'm Yoko."

"That's a nice name, I'm Masako."

"I know," and nothing else.

They'd been sitting there for thirty minutes. Masako had just watched Yoko sit and cut out pieces of paper, and glue some of them together, and draw on some of them. She had no idea what was going on. Masako had been there since Kenji's spirit had been purified; now that the case was solved, there was nothing else to do but wait for Mai to wake up. She knew that Yoko was an orphan; she'd watched all the day care children get picked up by their parents already. Now, after dinner, it wasn't too much longer before the children would need to go to bed, so they wouldn't be tired during Midnight Mass. Masako knew she had to say something… she felt bad already that she'd just been sitting here the whole time, not saying anything.

"What are you making?"

Yoko looked up "an angel."

"That sounds nice," Masako started to end the sentence, but felt like she needed to keep the conversation going… somehow: "how are you making it? It looks really complicated."

"It's not too bad," Yoko said, and then her words came out faster as she started talking "I started out by cutting out different pieces like this, they're going to make the head. I used to have to make the hair out of paper too, I'd make it fit on her head like a wig or a hat, but this year Ms. Suji found me some yarn. Oh, and for the body…" she kept talking, and Masako found herself smiling. She looked so cute now that she was really into explaining the process of making the angel, and it wasn't hard to listen to her. Since Masako wasn't very good with arts and crafts in general, her questions were genuine, and Yoko knew it, and got more excited and happy the longer she talked.

Masako looked up in time to catch Ayako's smile, and knew she was doing okay.

Watching children wasn't too bad after all.


	7. Pie

**Author's Note: Sorry this one is so short! But I'm just re-posting these from my tumblr, so I probably didn't quite know what to do, or something...**

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Prompt: Pie

Summary: Mai really hopes that this pie is safe to eat…

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Mai was very surprised one afternoon, about a week after Christmas and the case with Kenji's spirit, when John showed up at the office, with Ms. Suji (who they'd met at the church along with Father Tojo) with him.

"Come in!" Mai waved the two of them in hurriedly, it had been a cold week and, unless Ms. Suji had a car, they must've walked to the office. "You must be freezing!"

"It is a little chilly out there!" Ms. Suji smiled as Mai closed the door behind them. "We don't want to keep you long, though."

"Oh, trust me, you're fine," Mai assured them "it's been really slow lately."

Ms. Suji handed something, Mai couldn't tell what it was since it was wrapped to keep out the cold, to Mai. Whatever it was had been kept warm on account of the covering, and Mai unwrapped it.

"Oh, a pie! Thank you!"

"I wanted to thank you and the rest of the office for helping us with Kenji. We're all very relieved that he's happy again. I say 'I' but we all pitched in" Ms. Suji explained.

Mai looked up at John, silently asking him, in the most loving way possible, if this was safe to eat. John was the first to admit that he couldn't cook, or bake, to save himself, and she was suddenly a little worried that the pie, no matter how good it looked, might explode at any minute.

John smiled, no offense taken, as usual, "don't worry Mai, all I did was pick up the ingredients and turn on the oven."


	8. Tinsel

**Author's Note: I'm so sorry I missed Monday (well, technically Tuesday too, but I tend to count "today" as before I go to bed.) My family does a LOT of stuff during spring break, particularly house reorganizing, and last night I fell asleep with my dog on my bed and totally forgot about posting anything!**

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Prompt: Tinsel

Summary: Mai wants to hang tinsel on the Christmas tree this year… both John and Naru would rather not get into it. (Spoilers if you don't know what happens in volume 12 as far as the big reveal. Set a few years after the office is re-established from Naru and Lin having come back to Japan.)

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"But Naru-"

"No."

John frowned slightly before knocking on the door; he wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but they must be close to the door if he could hear them so clearly. He honestly couldn't say that he was surprised to hear them arguing, however.

"Hey, John!" Mai smiled once he opened the door a moment later.

"Hey, Mai… what's going on?" he had to ask.

"Oh, I bought some tinsel for the Christmas tree this year, but Naru won't let me put it on!"

John had very, very, specific memories of tinsel. He supposed they were Christmas memories too, but he tried to separate those into two categories. His family had a tradition of putting tinsel on the tree every year; but since he had quite a few siblings, it usually turned into an all-out tinsel war when one of his brother's tried to throw the tinsel on the tree, and one of his sisters would get mad because their mom would inevitably make them do it again, since she'd told them to hang the tinsel on the branches, not throw it. And then the mood would change abruptly from a happy 'ah, we're decorating the Christmas tree as both siblings and civilized human beings, isn't this nice' memory to one where everyone was yelling at each other, except for John who usually just tried to stay out of the way, but then they'd start throwing the tinsel at each other, and there was no escaping that, and it usually ended with everyone at different parts of the house, angry at each other, or possibly crying and angry, and John covered in tinsel trying to hang it all on the tree himself before mom got home.

He looked over at Kasuya (well, Oliver Davis, but after several awkward attempts at calling him by his real name, they'd both given up on that and stuck to Kasuya) and there was a silent eye-conversation exchange, and John got the gist that, while it probably wasn't THAT bad for Kasuya, it definitely was something that was either embarrassing, or a little awkward, to look back on.

"Mai… I'm sure he has his reasons."


	9. Ice Skating

Prompt: Ice skating

Summary: John's never ice skated before and he doesn't really want to. Monk and Mai insist. (Once again, set around Silent Christmas)

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"Monk, it's probably best if my feet stay on solid ground."

"Oh, come on, John, it'll be fun!" Mai grinned, pulling him along toward the ice rink.

Monk, Mai, and John had been together for the better part of the afternoon, dinner (Monk's treat, much to John's dismay; he preferred paying for himself) and now Monk wanted to go ice-skating, which Mai was eager about, and John much less so, since he wasn't exactly fond of attaching wheels, or blades, to his feet. He'd never gone ice-skating, either, and so he was more than a little wary of it.

But Monk insisted, and, despite John's insisting that he could get his own and that Monk had already paid for dinner for the three of them, paid for his skates.

"Now there's no getting out of it" Monk grinned, and ruffled John's hair as he started towards the rink, with Mai and John trailing behind him like ducklings.

At least John had managed to get his skates on properly, but getting onto the ice was another matter entirely. He'd clung to the railing, and it was a good thing too, or he would have fallen immediately.

"Glide, John. Don't be so stiff about it!" Monk told him, before taking Mai's hands and skating backwards, pulling her along.

John watched the two of them as he tried to get his own legs to be a little steadier. Monk was very good, and Mai wasn't half bad herself, having done it before, but just not in a few years. They skated like that for a while, and John was perfectly content to attempt gliding, as Monk had said. Now that they'd been out on the rink for a little while, John wasn't doing too badly; he hadn't fallen, at least, and he was moving at a fairly normal pace along the railing… but he was not letting go of the railing anytime soon, that was for sure.

Or so he thought. Monk stayed with Mai a few more minutes before leaving her to her own devices, and skated over to John.

"You're doing nicely," Monk commented.

"Thanks. I'm just trying to avoid falling!"

"Falling's not so bad. It's cold, and hard, but there's not as much of the 'did I break my tailbone' feeling that you get when you fall on roller skates."

"That's good then."

"So, now that that's out of the way, you should try letting go of the rail."

"I don't think that's a good idea," John said quickly.

Monk laughed, "come on, John, you'll be fine!"

"I'm not so sure about that."

"Please? I won't let you fall!"

Mai skated past them "come on, John, try it!" But when she turned to talk to them, she put too much weight on one foot, and started to turn, before trying to correct herself and over compensating, and fell.

"Mai!" John didn't think about it, and pushed off to the rail, trying to hurry toward her.

Once he got over there, Mai just giggled "I'm fine, John, really! It doesn't hurt, just like Monk said!"

"And see, you did just fine off the rail!"

John blushed in embarrassment as Monk helped Mai up, before putting his hands on John's shoulders.

"Don't worry, no hand holding from me."

"Thank you" but John couldn't help but laugh.

Okay, so ice skating wasn't too bad.


	10. Frost

**Author's Note: This one is very short, I'm sorry for that. This is the shortest one of them all, and I think all the others are around the same length as the ones up to this one, so there won't be another super short one, don't worry!**

**Also, I wanted to say thank you for all the reviews! I'm very sorry that I haven't replied to them, but so far since I've been posting these, the days just haven't been good for sitting down and typing out replies! But I do read them all, and I appreciate every one! If you have any questions, I'll do my best to reply to them right away, and if you don't have any, just know that I do read them, and I'll start replying to them once my weeks get less busy! (Somewhere my professors are all laughing simultaneously at the notion...)**

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Prompt: Frost

Summary: Yasu hates snow… but he likes frost. A lot.

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Yasu didn't like snow very much. Yes, sure, it was nice to play around in for an hour or two, and it made for a nice sight when he woke up in the morning to snow on the ground… but after a while it turned to slush and just got plain annoying. It got to the point that, after he got into high school, after the initial enjoyment, all he could think about was that it was going to make biking to school difficult.

But he loved frost. Frost put him in the mood for winter and Christmas, and let him enjoy it without thinking about how difficult getting around was going to be in the days after. Frost made the air cold and crisp and nice, and while the cold was a little sharp, it didn't linger like the cold from snow. He could dress warmly and know that he wasn't going to get wet and miserable later.

So when Monk commented that he sure was in a chipper mood, Yasu just grinned and replied:

"It's the weather."


	11. Egg Nog

**Author's Note: Argh, I'm sorry for both the "I haven't gone to bed yet but it's actually the next day" updates (those will stop this Sunday, I promise!) and the general quality of some of these. I'm trying to edit them, but really all I'm fixing is punctuation, and an occasional word over-usage or awkward phrase. My original note on tumblr for this was "I really don't know what I'm doing. This oneshot/drabble is stupid. It's super late and I've either been driving or loading up the car (or unloading it) all day. And getting jumped on by excited sheltie puppies. Also now I have a monster craving for eggnog." so I really am sorry for the lack of quality in some of these... it's pretty easy to tell when it was way past the time I should have been in bed when I was writing these originally.**

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Prompt: Eggnog

Summary: Impromptu sleepover at Monk's house!

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It was an impromptu sleep over, of sorts. John's heat had gone out and, when Monk realized this, had invited (okay, well, he hadn't exactly given John any other option…) John to sleep over at his house. Yasu had, somehow (Monk didn't question it, it was Yasu, after all) heard about it, and Monk had invited him, too. He'd given John a half hour to throw some things in a bag, and then had picked the two of them up.

It was going pretty well, so far. They'd gotten dinner and had brought it back to Monk's house, since it really was pretty cold out, and they wanted to get in and stay in as quickly as possible. Yasu hadn't said anything weird enough to get John all flustered (yet, the operative word was yet; Monk knew it was only a matter of time) and they decided it was kind of nice talking when they weren't on a case or anything. Eventually, it got pretty late, and they were starting to wind down. The TV was on at a fairly low volume, and Yasu was trying to explain a certain show to John, but John didn't have a TV and so hadn't seen it (Monk just shook his head and decided that John need to get out more and that he might have to take him clubbing or something, even if it was only for the sheer entertainment factor from John's reaction.) Monk was about to suggest that they go ahead and go to bed (John was trying to hide yawns at a greater frequency, and even Yasu was looking pretty tired) when he remembered something… he had a whole carton of eggnog in the refrigerator. He knew he shouldn't drink all of it by himself… well, he could, but he knew he shouldn't.

"Does anyone want eggnog?" Monk asked.

"Sure!" Yasu perked up.

When John took a second to respond, Monk couldn't help but comment:

"Please tell me you've had eggnog before, at least."

John laughed, "yes, Monk, I have, don't worry. And yes, please. Sorry, I couldn't hold back a yawn for a second."

"Good, you had me worried there," Monk grinned, and went to go get it.


	12. Cider

**Author's Note: I also apologize for the quality of this one. This is another stupid one, because according to my note on tumblr, I couldn't think of anything else. The next one isn't as bad, so don't worry! (This is also another short one and I feel bad because I didn't think there were any more of those.)**

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Prompt: Cider

Summary: Ayako loves cider… so much that she sometimes forgets to buy any other kind of drink over the winter. That's fine, usually… until she has guests over.

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Ayako had decided a long time ago that cider was her favorite winter drink. Even when she was a kid, cider trumped hot chocolate, which never ceased to confuse the adults around her, including her parents. She'd drink hot chocolate if it was given to her, she didn't want to be rude, after all, but she preferred cider over everything.

And so, when she, Mai, and Masako decided to have a girls night at her apartment, she realized something… since she herself preferred cider, she'd forgotten to buy hot chocolate… or any other drink but water for that matter, since she'd just had the last of her tea that morning.

"It's fine, Ayako!" Mai grinned when she'd told them. "I haven't had cider in a while!"

"I haven't either," Masako nodded, "it smells so nice, but my mom never buys any."

Ayako smiled; she hated forgetting to do things when she had anyone over, but as long as they were okay with it, then everything was fine.

The three of them settled down on her couch with a movie and hot cider, and Ayako couldn't help but grin. Maybe she should forget to buy anything else every year.


	13. Peppermint

Prompt: Peppermint

Summary: John likes the smell of real peppermint well enough, but he can't stand it if it's artificial. (This is about John, not SPR, and it's quite short.)

* * *

John hated the smell of peppermint. Okay, not real peppermint, he didn't mind that at all, but if someone was burning a peppermint scented candle it drove him nuts. He had many, many, memories of going Christmas shopping with one of his best friends, a girl named Evelyn, and they always ended up in some kind of candle, perfume, or other scented store, since even though Evelyn didn't wear perfume unless it was a special occasion, her mom wore it pretty frequently. He didn't mind it, most of it didn't smell too terrible… but for one reason or another, he couldn't stand the artificial peppermint smell. Real peppermint was nice, it was sweet, but not a baking kind of sweet, a sugary sweet, and it was subtle. The artificial stuff was way too strong and it made him scrunch up his face in a way that made Evelyn (or his sisters… or his mom…) giggle, before she led him through the store where the peppermint smell wasn't nearly as strong.


	14. Gingerbread

Prompt: Gingerbread

Summary: Mai always feels a little nostalgic when she smells gingerbread baking. (Sorry if this is weird, I'm very sleepy. Also, once again, Ms. Suji is the name I've made up for the lady at the church in the Silent Christmas episodes.) **(Author's Note: The parentheses were copied from the original note on tumblr; I think I've edited out most of the weirdness.)**

* * *

Mai loved the smell of gingerbread, mostly because of how much it reminded her of her mother. Baking gingerbread was something that she and her mom had done every single year around Christmas. She remembered taking a gingerbread cookie or two to her father's grave on Christmas Eve every year as well. The smell was nostalgic, but also a little sad, though it was long past the days when she would start crying because of it; that first Christmas alone hadn't been easy.

And now it was the Christmas season after Naru had gone to England with Lin, and she was determined to make sure that Christmas went back to being a cheerful holiday. So she'd called John; of everyone in SPR, he usually didn't have plans. She'd ended up joining him at the church, where he was helping make gingerbread (or, in his case, measuring out the ingredients and turning on the oven; he couldn't bake very well.) Christmas Eve at the church again, maybe it would be a new tradition. To her surprise, she wasn't the only one: Ayako, and Masako, were there already when she got there, and Monk, with Yasu in tow, arrived shortly after.

She hadn't been able to make gingerbread last year; she'd been possessed the whole time they'd been working on it, but now she was eager to learn. She hadn't been able to take cookies to her father's, or her mother's, graves since her mother had passed away; since her mom had been about to teach her now to make them that year. She was bad at cooking on her own, and no one else she knew could make them.

She couldn't help but smile the whole time Ms. Suji explained how to make it, especially when (after Mai had told her why she wanted to learn) she said:

"And I'm sure we'll be able to make a few cookies."


	15. Presents

Prompt: Presents

Summary: It's cold outside, and Mai gets an unexpected visitor (I didn't really know what to do with this and so it's quite short.)

* * *

Mai frowned as she heard a knock on her door. To her knowledge, no one was coming over… and it had been over two hours since Micheru and Kieko left from their study session, so if they'd forgotten anything, they would have been back to get it a long time ago. She got up from her couch and walked over to the door, opening it a touch cautiously since she had no idea who it could be.

"Ayako!" They hadn't talked in a while, and even though they'd exchanged addresses a long time ago; neither one had ever actually stopped by the other's apartment (talking on the phone, however, was usually twice a week occurrence, although with exams coming up, Mai hadn't had time recently,) so she wasn't expecting to see the older woman at her door. "Come in!"

"Thanks, it's freezing!" she stepped inside quickly, sighing in a relieved way when Mai shut the door after her.

"What happened, did your car break down?"

"No, you know I keep it running nicely! I was just coming by to give you this:" she handed Mai a wrapped box, slim enough that Mai hadn't even noticed it until Ayako called attention to it.

"What- Ayako! We said we were just doing Christmas cards this year!"

"Sometimes you and John sound so much a like that it's a little uncanny."

"Seriously, though, you didn't need to do this!" Mai couldn't believe it, staring down at the prettily wrapped Christmas present in her hand.

"Well I thought you'd like it, so I did. Now, no opening it until Christmas!"


	16. Fireplace

**Author's Note: Sorry for the lack of updates! I had a major test today, and so I've been studying! I knew I needed to update during my study break... and then I forgot.**

* * *

Prompt: Fireplace

Summary: Monk (now 31) invited Yasu (now 23) to his house when Yasu's heater broke… unfortunately, Monk wasn't expecting his own power to go out.

* * *

"Thanks again for letting me stay."

"With your heater being out and it being this cold outside? I'd be a jerk if I didn't!"

"Although your electricity going out wasn't exactly part of the plan, was it?"

"No, it wasn't," Monk sighed as he threw down his own nest of blankets next to Yasu's sleeping bag.

He'd offered to let Yasu stay over at his house after his heater had been knocked out… unfortunately, a surge in the snow storm had knocked out Monk's electricity as well. But at least he had a fireplace, which Yasu didn't. He'd gotten a fire going anyway, more for the novelty than actual need, at first, but he was glad he'd gotten it started when the electricity got knocked out.

"Two grown men, sleeping in front of the fireplace like little kids," Yasu grinned.

"You're hardly 'grown', kid."

"Hey! I've graduated college, thank you!"

"Argh, don't tell me that, you make me feel even older."

"But I'm old" Yasu grinned, popping his back as he laid down. "See, my bones are creaking already."

"Now you're just being weird."

"When am I not?"

"Point," Monk laughed, and settled down into his makeshift futon. He hadn't wanted to try and find his sleeping bag in the dark… who knew what would come toppling down on him from his troll cave of a closet.

"Seriously, though… this is pretty nostalgic. Not the fireplace, but sleeping on the floor somewhere."

"Ha, yeah. I almost invited John over, for old times sake, but I'm sure he's got plenty to do at the church in a storm like this."

"Oh yes; the younger kids, at least, are going to be terrified if the power is out over there."

Monk nodded, and groaned as his back popped, a good bit louder than Yasu's.

"See, you're ooollllddddd," Yasu teased.

Monk just rolled his eyes, and let his body adjust to sleeping on the floor again… he sure hadn't done that since the SPR days. Even camping was different, with house and school floors being so weirdly flat.

Yasu took off his glasses, and Monk watched his eyes unfocus, and then try to focus again, Yasu grumbled and rubbed them so they'd stop, and then his eyes stayed unfocused, giving up on trying to see clearly without his glasses.

They talked for a little while longer, about nothing in particular, just whatever came to mind, and then slowly fell asleep in front of the fireplace.


	17. Socks

Prompt: Stockings/Socks

Summary: AU Where Ayako and Takigawa (who is referred to as Houshou) are a married couple with adopted children.

Note: I'm sure that the original intent of the prompt was stockings hung up by the fireplace, but, well, I got this idea in my head and I couldn't resist

* * *

Ayako grinned to herself as she washed dishes, with Masako, her youngest daughter, helping her dry: Houshou was being silly again, and no matter how much she wanted to roll her eyes and put on her stern mother face, she could only ever laugh when Houshou was being silly with the children. She wasn't watching them, but she could hear them in the hallway and living room.

"But, Dad, you just got the floor nice and clean!" John, as usual, wasn't necessarily worried, just concerned that what was going on was, in fact, okay. Ayako thought that, at ten years old, it was rather endearing.

"That's the point, it's easier to slide on!"

Ayako could hear all of them laughing, and giggled to herself.

Masako looked up at her, the look on her face clearly asking what she was laughing at.

"Masako, why don't you go in the living room with dad and everyone? I'll finish up."

Masako looked hesitant for a second, but then smiled happily and hopped off the stool she'd been standing on. "Thank you, mamma!"

Ayako finished up the dishes, and found she couldn't stop smiling. A lot of her friends said that they were crazy to adopt this many children; and with five kids, sometimes Ayako thought they were right, even though she wouldn't trade it for the world. She made sure the last of the dishes were set out to dry, and then dried off her own hands and walked over to the living room door frame to watch.

Naru, as usual, was curled up in the arm chair, reading a book that seemed far too big for a five year old to be able to handle, but he seemed to be doing alright with it, and was apparently immune to all the noise around him, since he didn't have an irritated look on his face, or at least, what she could see of it. Houshou was laughing, racing around the room with the rest of the kids, all in their socks, sliding around on the newly cleaned floor. Masako was grinning, hanging onto the back of his shirt and jeans so that he pulled her around the room like a sled dog, and Mai, who was older by only a few months, was hanging onto John in the same way. Yasu would occasionally grab onto John as well, so that the three of them fell over, in a laughing pile.

No, Ayako wouldn't trade Christmas' like this for the world.


	18. Cookies

Prompt: Cookies

Summary: Many Christmas' later… the gang (sans Naru and Lin) gather in Ayako's kitchen and begin the ultimate task of… making Christmas cookies.

* * *

Monk said they were too old for it. Ayako told him that if he included her in the "old" category, she'd have to kill him, and besides, it was perfectly normal for "middle aged" (she said that part with a cringe) people to be cooking. Mai really wanted to do it, and Masako was quiet, as usually, but enthusiastic. Yasu was all too eager, to the point that Monk wondered what he was planning, and John, of course, said it sounded like a nice idea.

And so, one snowy Sunday afternoon found the six of them crowded into Ayako's kitchen (which really wasn't all that small, but with six of them in there it was a bit of a job trying to find elbow room) trying to make Christmas cookies. They were all much older now, Monk, at 58, was getting too close to sixty for comfort, Ayako was coming up on it faster than she'd like, with John, Yasu, Mai, and Masako not far behind (with the two "youngest" at 49, Ayako teased them saying they were "spring chicks") and yet it was just like it used to be. John and Ayako got everything measured out, and the oven pre-heating.

"Don't worry, Ayako, I'm getting a lot better, and I have yet to burn down a kitchen!" John smiled.

"Coming from you, that's a relief!" Ayako teased.

Their baking methods weren't exactly conventional: the mixing bowl was slid across the "island" of a cooking counter, as was the recipe book, although the two didn't usually end up at the same person.

"You idiot, it was supposed to be two eggs, not four!"

"Hey, I asked you if you'd put in the eggs already!"

"Well I've gotten to where I just tune you ou-"

"Why don't we just make two batches of cookies, then?" John, as always, was the peacemaker.

Somehow, and it really was a mystery, they got the dough finished. Monk and Masako got cookie sheets covered in foil, Mai found the cookie cutters, and Ayako, Yasu, and John attempted to roll out the cookie dough. Attempted was the correct word.

"Yasu, that's way too thin."

"Ah, Ayako, it's a little on the thick side."

"John, it's at an angle."

Finally they got it vaguely even, and not too thick, or too thin.

Eventually they got the cookie's cut out, and onto the cookie sheets, which was no small feat, since Monk kept breaking his, and John, at first, was trying to get his to look remotely like what they were supposed to on the pan, but gave up on that about halfway through. Yasu's were surprisingly good, and the girls' were all quite nice… when Mai didn't go so fast.

About an hour later (since there were two cookie sheet's worth) they settled themselves in Ayako's living room, with a plate of cookie's. Some had come out nicely, some were a sort of "okay, you tried" shape, and a few more were just some vague blob that no one had any idea what it was supposed to have been, but they were all quite good.

"Alright, alright… we're not too old for this," Monk grinned.


	19. Santa

Prompt: Santa

Summary: John was a weird kid.

* * *

"John, please tell me you're joking."

"About what?"

"About what you just said."

"Oh, no I wasn't," John looked confused, while Mai was staring at him like he'd turned green. Did he really just say what she thought he said? It seemed impossible.

"You never believed in Santa as a kid?!"

"I guess I might have when I was very young, but since I was at least seven, no. I mean, my brothers and sisters did, and I never said anything about it, but I just… it seemed strange to me. I kept trying to figure out how it all could possibly work out."

Mai got the mental image of John as a small child trying to calculate the logistics of living, let alone running a factory on, the North Pole, or trying to figure out how one person could possibly deliver gifts in a single night, and found it rather adorable. But at the same time it was just weird.


	20. Sled

Prompt: Sled

Summary: Takigawa decides that Yasu cannot live another day without going sledding. Yasu doesn't think he'll live another day if he _does._

* * *

"This seems safe."

"Shut up, Yasu, it's fine!"

They had come up with the rest of SPR (sans Naru and Lin who were both still in England) to a cabin in the mountains… mostly because, now that Christmas had past, they all had a few days of freedom, at least, before life needed to continue. While they were there, the first night actually, it had snowed nicely enough that they were more than able to do any kind of winter related thing imaginable. And so Monk had decided that Yasu could not live another day without going sledding.

"Why is John exempt from this?"

"Please tell me you haven't forgotten the fall he took yesterday."

"Should I be comforted in knowing that you were the one teaching him to ski?"

"Hey, he didn't break or sprain anything, he's fine!" Monk and John had gone skiing yesterday, or at least, Monk had decided to teach him how to ski. He'd actually done pretty well at first, he learned to do the basics pretty nicely, and falls (they weren't frequent, but he had several) were minor, and he was always laughing when he got up. Later in the afternoon, however, they'd found themselves in the middle of a much, much, harder part of the mountain, and John had gotten going way too fast, and had taken a nasty fall. He hadn't been seriously injured (Monk had no idea how) but had gotten banged up pretty badly and, while he intended to get out again the next day, was in bed (and currently being mothered by Ayako) for the day.

"Alright, alright… wait, where's Mai?"

"Probably halfway down the slope by now, chicken!"

"Alright, alright, I'm going!"

Somehow… somehow… Yasu didn't die. He didn't know how, but he didn't die. And really… it wasn't too bad. They joined up with Mai after one or two times down the slope near their cabin, and then later, with Masako. Yasu tipped over once or twice, but like John in the early hours of the previous day, he got up laughing, and everything was just fine.


	21. Snowman

**Author's Note: Since this one is so short, I'll probably post another one later tonight. We're almost done!**

* * *

Prompt: Snowman

Summary: Mai, John, and Takigawa make a snowman… which ends up looking a little hilarious.

* * *

"He's a little… lopsided, isn't he?" Mai giggled as she looked at the snowman she, John, and Takigawa had made.

"He's a little different from what I was expecting," John admitted with a laugh.

"What were you expecting?" Takigawa asked him.

"Well, I've only seen snowmen in pictures and Christmas cards…"

"John, stop talking you're making me want to bring every kid in Australia to Japan just so they can play in the snow!" Takigawa said with a laugh, "… John, I was joking, you can keep talking all you want," he said after a moment when John had, in fact, stopped talking.

"Oh, okay!" John smiled like always.

"Should we make another one? There's enough snow on the ground" Mai looked around.

"I don't have any plans," Takigawa shrugged.

"Let's do it!" John nodded, and the three of them started again.


	22. Sleigh Bells

**Author's Note: Don't worry, I'm definitely uploading several tonight!**

* * *

Prompt: Sleigh/Jingle Bells

Summary: Masako just really likes sleigh bells.

* * *

Masako hadn't mentioned it to anyone except her parents, but she loved the sound of sleigh bells, or jingle bells, she didn't care what they were called. The sound was traditional and cheery at the same time, and it was a pleasant mix. They looked nice too, she preferred silver ones, but gold ones didn't look bad either, and they were all a nice shape that looked strangely happy. She had several that she'd made into necklaces; just single ones that she'd found red and green cords for, or cords that matched some of her winter kimono's, even. She wore them at home, and when she went out, though she hadn't worn any during a case because that just seemed silly; she liked it, it was a simple, but nice, touch for winter.

She didn't know why she'd even noticed any of this, but she had, and so she loved sleigh bells.


	23. Carols

**Author's Note: Only two more left, but I think I'm going to post them both tomorrow. I'm glad I posted this one on a double-day, because I feel REALLY terrible about the ones that are so short like this!**

* * *

Prompt: Carols

Summary: John loves old carols, fortunately the children at the church do too.

* * *

Every year since he'd come to Japan, John had been more or less in charge of teaching the children Christmas carols. Just the traditional ones in the hymnal that were sung during midnight mass; sometimes, if they were actually going to take the children somewhere to sing, he'd go over other older ones that everyone knew but that the kids might not all have the notes right, but as for the newer songs, he didn't care for them, and so didn't know them to teach them, so someone else usually had that job. But he loved teaching the children the carols! He'd start out by teaching them to put sounds to notes on the page, or read the actual notes, but some children weren't on the same music reading level, and then they'd all crowd around him when he sat at the piano and giggle as they shuffled closer and closer to read the notes, until they nearly knocked him over. Father Toujo would always laugh if he walked by and saw them like that, and they'd stop and giggle and laugh for a second, too. And when the children finally had all of it solid (they usually knew the lyrics, although some of them would have different parts of verses mixed up, but they were shakier on the notes themselves) they got so excited and wanted to sing all the time. That was John's absolute favorite part of teaching them, and possibly of the whole season: the children got so excited and, even though the orphanage had quite a lot of children in it who wouldn't have foster homes for Christmas, and there was plenty that they could choose to be sad about over Christmas, they were excited, and full of joy.


	24. Chestnuts

Prompt: Chestnuts

Summary: They've never had them before… they're going to anyway. (Yeah I have no clue what I'm doing…)

* * *

"I've always wanted to try them."

"You mean you've never tried them before?"

"Never. Have you?"

"Nope."

Mai and Yasu were grocery shopping; his parents were on vacation, and since he had finals for university he hadn't been able to go with them, so he was spending Christmas with Mai. They were standing in front of a barrel of chestnuts, debating if they should get any or not.

"Should we anyway?"

"Let's do it!"


	25. Christmas Music

Prompt: Christmas Music/Movies

Summary: John likes pretty much every type of Christmas music… except for one.

* * *

John liked traditional carols that could be found in the hymnal the best. He didn't have anything against non-religious Christmas music, but he just thought that the old religious ones were the prettiest, the most in-tune with the season (and "What Child is This?" happened to be his favorite, though he could honestly say he hadn't found one that he ever got tired of hearing.) He liked old carols and songs as well, "Silver Bells" "White Christmas" and even "Baby, It's Cold Outside;" songs that his grandparents and parents knew. Songs meant for little kids were cute, though once he heard them a few times a season, he was done with them… unless the children at church were singing them, then it was cute no matter what. He was pretty partial to instrumentals too, and was rather fond of the "Trans Siberian Orchestra" among others. He liked most types of Christmas music quite a bit.

But there was a particular type of Christmas music that he couldn't stand. The new, more on the side of "pop" songs. Sometimes he couldn't even make it through hearing certain songs once on the radio, depending on how bad they were. Not all new songs were bad, after all, traditional songs had been new songs at one time, but some of them… well. If he was with someone, he wouldn't grumble, he wasn't a grumbling person, but if he was in his apartment, then he'd change radio stations for a minute or two.

But other than that, John loved Christmas music.


End file.
